Following the short beta phase, the Office of Public Affairs, which developed and manages the campus gateway site, will launch the new site in June.

The new website will be the fourth distinct version of www.berkeley.edu since its debut in 1995.

What's new?

A toolbar at the top of every page links users to CalMail, campus maps, and allows searches of the Berkeley web, the campus directory, and some 10,000 NewsCenter files.

A set of quick links throughout the site provides fast-track navigation to heavily used sites.

An expanded news and events section appears on the home page.

A featured photo on the home page changes daily, with an initial palette of a dozen images. The photographic spotlight will cover the breadth of the campus, from the classroom and lab to the library and athletic field.

A new "Facts at a Glance" page pulls together frequently requested campus statistics.

The most visited and useful links for specific audiences — students, prospective students, staff, faculty, alumni, and parents — are compiled on new pages aimed at each group.

Several notes about the beta phase test:

As you click through the site, you must use the back button in your web browser to navigate back to the new home page (http://homepage.berkeley.edu); links to "home" will take you to the current home page during the beta test.

News and events on the beta site will not be updated during the testing phase.

If you search from the beta site, results that link to a gateway site file will take you to the current campus site, not the new one, during the test phase.

Don't bookmark or link to files within the new site during its beta phase because the URLs will change once it is launched in June.